Now time to get to work

With the pomp and circumstance filtering to an end, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory can now focus on the tasks at hand.

The Republican was officially inaugurated in a private ceremony on Saturday and plans a tour of the state this week.

The purpose for the early inauguration was so that he would be in office in time for the General Assembly to meet for the first time — which will occur on Wednesday.

Now that the ceremony is official and McCrory has taken office, it is time to get down to business.

McCrory will kick off his official duties with a tour of the state that will include stops in Asheville, Greensboro, New Bern and Charlotte before a public gala this weekend in Raleigh.

We applaud McCrory for making his way around the state to visit with members of his constituency. We hope he takes the opportunity to really sit down and listen to what people have to say about the state of the state and what they feel needs to be done looking ahead.

The work facing McCrory and his cabinet is certainly not easy.

With a biennial session on the horizon, McCrory will be thrown to the wolves in his first year.

Obviously, there will be issues with the state's finances over the next two years, which will have to be outlined soon to give the General Assembly time to mull over the details.

But, the main focus of McCrory will have to be getting the people of North Carolina back to work.

With several counties still experiencing over 12 percent unemployment, expanding current business as well as attracting new industry to the state has to be the top priority.

We certainly know that the road ahead of McCrory is not an easy one.

Finding jobs for citizens has been a difficult endeavor for a number of state executives across the country.

There is no finite solution or a one-size-fits-all formula that will bring more jobs to North Carolina.

However, the process starts with listening to the same constituents who voted for him in November. And that means listening to those constituents from the mountains to the ocean and all in between.

Now is the time to move past the political rhetoric that was a mainstay during the election. We all have to roll up our sleeves and get to work to help our fellow man and woman.

If we all pull together and help find common sense solutions, we can right the employment ship and get people back to work.

But, that all starts with McCrory and, we hope that now will be the time we see leadership coming from Raleigh.